Re-Export Controls Bill

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what Directorate within the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has policy responsibility for the Re-Export Controls Bill.

Baroness Wilcox: The Europe, Trade and International Directorate within the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has policy responsibility for the Re-export Controls Bill.

Agriculture: Health and Safety

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of health and safety in the United Kingdom agriculture industry.

Lord Freud: Although employment has been declining and there have been significant structural and technological changes in agriculture in recent years, the industry's health and safety performance has been and continues to be poor.
	Fatal injury statistics are the most reliable and robust key health and safety performance indicator. Currently whilst it represents approximately 1.4 per cent of the workforce, agriculture accounts for 15-20 per cent of all reported work related fatalities in Great Britain each year. The fatal injury incidence rate is the highest of the main industrial sectors including construction and exceptionally includes a high proportion of older workers and members of the public.
	Given gross under-reporting, the figures for non-fatal injuries are less reliable and robust and should be treated with caution. Only about 25 per cent of accidents to employees and 5 per cent involving the self-employed are reported under the Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR); making accurate calculation of incidence rates and comparisons with other industries difficult. The best estimate is that published annually by HSE and the Office for National Statistics which suggest that in 2008-09 and 2009-10 (the last year for which data have been published) the rate of reportable injury in agriculture was higher than that for any other industry and higher than the average for all industries. The latest report for 2008-09 is available at: http://www.hse. gov.uk/statistics/index.htm.
	The main causes of fatal and non-fatal injuries have remained consistent over the period 1999-00-2009-10 and include workplace transport, falls from height, struck by moving or falling objects, asphyxiation/drowning, livestock handling, machinery and trapped by collapsing materials; the relative ranking varying from year-to-year. Detailed analyses of fatal injuries in farming, forestry and horticulture including case summaries are published annually. The reports from 2002 onwards are available on HSE's website at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/resources/fatal.htm.
	The industry's occupational health record is also poor and obscured by under-reporting. As with other sectors, the statistical base is weak and provides limited intelligence and the most reliable data is that published annually by HSE and the Office for National Statistics. The statistics for 2007-08 and for 2008-09 (the last year for which data have been published), suggest that the incidence of work related illness in agriculture is of a similar order to that for all industries. Again, the report for 2008-09 is available at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/index.htm.
	Research commissioned from the Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) into ill health in the industry, reported in 2005 and available at: http://www.hse. gov.uk/research/rrhtm/rr370.htm concluded there was very little information on the prevalence or incidence of occupational ill health in the industry.

Agriculture: Health and Safety

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many deaths and serious injuries have occurred in the United Kingdom agriculture industry each year since 1995, up to the past year for which figures are available.

Lord Freud: Notifications of workplace injuries are made under RIDDOR-the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations. The information available under RIDDOR includes three categories of severity of injury to employees and the self-employed: fatal injuries, defined major injuries and other injuries leading to more than three days absence (over three day). There are two categories of severity for members of the public: fatal injuries and non-fatal injuries that cause a person to be taken from the site of the accident to hospital.
	The tables below provide the number of injuries reported under RIDDOR within the agriculture industry for the period 1994-95-2009-10. The annual basis of RIDDOR recording is the planning year from 1 April to 31 March. Data for 2009-10 are provisional, denoted by "p". Figures are for Great Britain, separate reporting arrangements are in place for Northern Ireland.
	
		
			 Reported Injuries in the Agriculture Industry 1994-95-2009-10 
			 Employment status Year Fatal injuries Major injuries Over-3-day injuries Total injuries 
			 Employees 1994-95 14 420 1,301 1,735 
			 1995-96 20 408 1,279 1,707 
			 1996-97 20 678 1,457 2,155 
			 1997-98 20 671 1,334 2,025 
			 1998-99 16 605 1,258 1,879 
			 1999-00 13 652 1,415 2,080 
			 2000-01 13 595 1,372 1,980 
			 2001-02 20 601 1,559 2,180 
			 2002-03 16 575 1,296 1,887 
			 2003-04 6 498 975 1,479 
			 2004-05 16 512 909 1,437 
			 2005-06 11 465 876 1,352 
			 2006-07 14 438 848 1,300 
			 2007-08 22 503 1,081 1,606 
			 2008-09 9 528 1,159 1,696 
			 2009-10p 17 561 1,066 1,644 
		
	
	
		
			 Employment status Year Fatal injuries Major injuries Over-3-day injuries Total injuries 
			 Self-employed 1994-95 32 94 100 226 
			 1995-96 20 68 94 182 
			 1996-97 35 100 57 192 
			 1997-98 20 74 48 142 
			 1998-99 30 74 40 144 
			 1999-00 23 74 41 138 
			 2000-01 33 60 26 119 
			 2001-02 19 94 38 151 
			 2002-03 20 67 24 111 
			 2003-04 38 76 32 146 
			 2004-05 26 74 24 124 
			 2005-06 23 73 17 113 
			 2006-07 22 50 15 87 
			 2007-08 24 66 22 112 
			 2008-09 16 71 29 116 
			 2009-10p 21 79 30 130 
		
	
	
		
			 Employment status Year Fatal injuries Non-fatal injuries Total injuries 
			 Members of the public 1994-95 5 64 69 
			 1995-96 5 59 64 
			 1996-97 9 192 201 
			 1997-98 11 178 189 
			 1998-99 9 196 205 
			 1999-00 8 192 200 
			 2000-01 7 147 154 
			 2001-02 2 138 140 
			 2002-03 3 90 93 
			 2003-04 7 39 46 
			 2004-05 3 54 57 
			 2005-06 8 69 77 
			 2006-07 7 74 81 
			 2007-08 2 102 104 
			 2008-09 5 84 89 
			 2009-10p 7 79 86

Agriculture: Health and Safety

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action are they taking to reduce the number of accidents on farms caused by machinery coming into contact with or getting too close to overhead power lines.

Lord Freud: Nine workers (employed or self-employed) were killed between 1999-00 and 2008-09 in accidents involving overhead power lines during agricultural work. No fatal injuries were reported in 2009-10 (the last year for which published figures are available). Given gross under-reporting under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences 1995, figures for the number of non-fatal injuries to workers or the public are unreliable.
	The HSE has published clear guidance on the topic including specific advice in the form of Agriculture Information Sheet 8 Working safely near overhead power lines, and booklet INDG389 Shock Horror: Safe working near overhead power lines in agriculture. The advice is also published in the general guidance booklet INDG427 Farmwise: Your essential guide to health and safety in agriculture.
	The guidance contains practical advice on planning the work, the selection and use of appropriate machinery and equipment, control measures, training and dealing with emergencies. It is readily available in hard copy from HSE Books and can be accessed online at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/topics/electricity.htm.
	Further information is also available from the Energy Networks Association at: www.energynetworks.org and from the distribution network operators (electricity supply companies).

Agriculture: Health and Safety

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they propose to take to ensure that all farm equipment that needs examination under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 receives a thorough examination.

Lord Freud: The legal requirement for farm equipment to be inspected or examined under the regulations falls to duty holders who include employers, self-employed persons and people in control of work equipment and/or lifting operations.
	The HSE has published clear advice on the application of the regulations to the agriculture industry in the form of Agriculture Information Sheet (AIS) 27 PUWER 98: How the Regulations apply to agriculture and forestry and AIS 28 LOLER: How the Regulations apply to agriculture.
	Free-to-download, web-friendly versions of the information sheets are available from the HSE website at: www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/ais27.pdf and www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/ais28.pdf.

Airports: Body Scanners

Lord Krebs: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the evidence from independent tests of the safety of X-ray airport passenger scanners.

Earl Attlee: The risks from the scanners have been assessed by many independent international bodies, including the UK Health Protection Agency. Tests have concluded that the dose received from being scanned is far below the allowed levels in the UK. In fact it is less than that received from natural sources in under two minutes at airline cruising altitude.

Airports: Holding Rooms

Baroness Stern: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide short-term holding facility offering overnight accommodation at Heathrow Airport to accommodate detainees who arrive on late afternoon or evening flights and who are currently held overnight in holding rooms.

Baroness Browning: It is logistically challenging to provide a residential short-term holding facility within Heathrow Airport in a way that is practical and affordable.
	The UK Border Agency has, however, made 20 beds available at the nearby Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre and Cayley House at the airport offers improved overnight facilities for detainees in the holding rooms, including showers. The escorting service provider will facilitate overnight moves to this accommodation where possible.
	The welfare of detainees remains a high priority for the Agency.

Armed Forces: Military Bands

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many full-time military bands each of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, Army, and Royal Air Force maintains.

Lord Astor of Hever: There are six bands of the Royal Marines who also conduct ceremonial services for the Royal Navy, the Army has 23 regular bands, and the Royal Air Force has three.

Armed Forces: Public Briefings

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people attended public briefings by the Royal Air Force presentation team last year; and what is the forecast for this year.

Lord Astor of Hever: From September 2010 to date 6,752 people have attended public briefings by the RAF presentation team. Before September 2010 exact numbers were not recorded, but it is estimated that an average of around 7,000 members of the public attended presentations each year. It is anticipated that this figure will be exceeded for the current year.

Armed Forces: Public Briefings

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people attended public briefings by the Army presentation team last year; and what is the forecast for this year.

Lord Astor of Hever: The Army presentation team briefed a total of 12,832 people nationwide in financial year 2010-11. It is forecast to brief between 11,500 and 13,700 people during financial year 2011-12.

Armed Forces: Public Briefings

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people attended public briefings by the Royal Navy presentation team last year; and what is the forecast for this year.

Lord Astor of Hever: The Royal Navy presentation team briefed a total of 6,340 people in the last financial year 2010-11. It is forecast to brief approximately 8,600 during financial year 2011-12.

Armed Forces: Stationing

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will consider a policy of stationing regiments of the Army near or in areas after which they are named and from which most recruits come.

Lord Astor of Hever: There are a number of factors which influence the selection of locations for Army bases. These include estate availability, access to training areas, unit cohesion and integration with local communities. Regional connections and representation are also taken into account, where appropriate.

Arts: Funding

Lord Sheldon: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the total public subsidy paid to theatres in England in the past three years.

Baroness Rawlings: Arts Council England has provided the following breakdown of the source of public sector support for theatres over the last three available years:
	
		
			  2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 
			 Type of funding £000 £000 £000 
			 Regularly Funded Organisations Arts 101,401 107,225 117,358 
			 Regularly Funded Organisations Local authority and other public subsidy 26,997 30,046 29,644 
			 Grants for the arts (excluding Regularly Funded Organisations) 8,109 8,601 9,251 
			 Sustain (excluding Regularly Funded Organisations) N/A N/A 725 
			 Total 136,507 145,872 156,978

Asylum Seekers

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to recommence normal procedures in dealing with asylum applications and returns to Greece if the decision of the European Court of Human Rights on returning asylum seekers there is that there is no breach of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights; and how they are addressing the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union on the matter.

Baroness Browning: The UK suspended the removal of asylum seekers to Greece under the Dublin Regulation on 20 September 2010. The decision to suspend removals was taken pending the outcome of the case of NS referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union by the Court of Appeal. The UK has provided written observations in the case of NS and others to the Court of Justice and we await further information on how that Court intends to proceed.
	Subsequently on 21 January 2011, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in the case of MSS v Belgium and Greece that Greece had violated Article three of the European Convention on Human Rights that prohibits inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment both because of the applicant's living conditions in Greece and the failure by the Greek authorities to properly consider his asylum claim. The Government accept that these findings prevent the return of asylum seekers to Greece under the Dublin Regulation until the situation there has improved.

Asylum Seekers

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many deportations to European Union countries occurred last year; to which countries; how many were of asylum seekers; how many were for other reasons; and what were those reasons.

Baroness Browning: It is UK Border Agency policy not to disclose information on deportations to specific countries as this could jeopardise our diplomatic relations.
	Deportations are a specific subset of removals which are enforced either following a criminal conviction or when it is judged that a person's removal from the UK is conducive to the public good. Failed asylum seekers are normally removed administratively and not deported from the UK. As such, no breakdown on deported asylum seekers is available.
	Last year, the UK Border Agency removed or deported 5,235 foreign national offenders from the UK. Approximately 15 per cent of these were nationals from within the European Economic Area.
	The only "other" reasons for a deportation would be on the basis on not being conducive to the public good. No individuals were deported last year on that basis.

Audit Commission

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty's Government on what basis the Department for Communities and Local Government made a provision of £56 million in its 2011-12 business plan towards the costs of abolishing the Audit Commission.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what will be the cost of abolishing the Audit Commission.

Baroness Hanham: This £56 million figure, which was previously published in Her Majesty's Treasury's Main Estimates, represents provision made in the department's budget for one-off costs that could potentially result from the closure of the Audit Commission. These costs might include redundancies, the termination of contracts and leases and any pension liabilities.
	However, the actual costs incurred will depend on a range of factors, including the way in which the work of the commission's in-house practice is transferred to the private sector. My department has appointed independent financial advisers to identify the most cost effective options for such a transfer. Further information about the advisers' work can be found at http://www.communities.gov.uk/newsstories/localgovernment/1889672.

Aviation: Air Quality

The Countess of Mar: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have reviewed the findings of Dr Susan Michael is entitled Health and Flight Safety Implications from Exposure to Contaminated Air in Aircraft; and what were their conclusions.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the individual concentrations of the toxic isomers MOCP, DOCP and TOCP (mono-ortho-cresyl phosphate, di- and tri-) present in the tricresyl phosphate preparation specifically used in synthetic jet engine oils.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether their research indicates that exposure of a developing foetus or baby to the tricresyl phosphate isomer known as tri-ortho-cresyl phosphate (TOCP) is harmless; and what exposure standards they recommend be applied to pregnant bystanders.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the light of the findings of the recent Cranfield University research into cabin air quality and of the Written Answer by the Minister for the Armed Forces, Mr Doug Henderson, on 4 February 1999 (Official Report, Commons, col. 737W), what advice they have issued as to how the travelling public should be protected from tricresyl phosphate (TCP) exposures; and whether they will encourage the fitting of TCP detection systems in aircraft.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what were the levels of the tricresyl phosphate isomer known as mono-ortho-cresyl phosphate detected in aircraft cabins by the recent Cranfield University research study into cabin air quality; and what technology was used to monitor for this specific isomer.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what specific scientific studies they have taken into account in developing their position on the inhalation of heated synthetic jet engine oil fumes.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government how they will address the potential safety hazard to airline passengers and crew shown by the Cranfield University research into cabin air quality where crews were reported to be failing to use emergency oxygen during possible contaminated air events.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government which government body or individual is responsible for informing aircraft passengers when a contaminated air event may have or has occurred.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment the Committee on Toxicity have made of the effects of inhalation of tricresyl phosphate (TCP) on human blood proteins; and whether any scientific studies have shown reproductive system changes as a result of exposure to TCP.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government how the Committee on Toxicity determine the dose of a toxic chemical when its vapour is inhaled in an enclosed space such as an aeroplane cabin or flight deck over a period of several hours.

Earl Attlee: I refer the noble Countess to the Written Statement made on 10 May 2011 (Official Report, col. WS 37).
	The information available has been published in the Cranfield University report. The next step is for the research studies, which the Department for Transport has commissioned, to be referred to the Committee on Toxicity. This will be done once the final study-swab test research-has been completed by the Institute of Occupational Medicine in Edinburgh.

Aviation: Electrical Equipment

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Attlee on 17 May (WA 290-1) on the use of electrical equipment on aircraft, which person or body is responsible for deciding if the equipment could adversely affect the aircraft.

Earl Attlee: The Civil Aviation Authority provides advice to UK operators on the possible effects of portable electronic equipment on aircraft systems but it is for individual operators to determine whether to permit the use of specific equipment.

Banking: Bonuses

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the amount of money paid in the last year in bonuses to staff of banks in which they have an interest; and how much was that amount.

Lord Sassoon: UK Financial Investments (UKFI) manages the Government's investments in financial institutions on an arm's length and commercial basis. UKFI engaged in discussions with Lloyds Banking Group and the Royal Bank of Scotland on their approach to remuneration. UKFI voted in favour of all resolutions in banks where it was eligible to do so, including on remuneration.
	The Financial Services Authority introduced a remuneration disclosure regime requiring banks to issue a report containing qualitative information on pay policies and detailed aggregate quantitative information on the remuneration paid to significant risk takers. The new rules came into force on 1 January 2011 and the banks are required to issue a report at least annually, starting in 2011 in respect of the 2010-11 financial year.

Banking: Money Supply

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the increase in the money supply in financial years 2008-09, 2009-10, and 2010-11; and what increases they estimate for 2011-12 and 2012-13.

Lord Sassoon: The Bank of England provides data on money supply in its statistical release entitled Sectoral breakdown of aggregate M4 and M4 Lending.
	The Bank of England reports broad money supply growth excluding the impact of intermediate non-bank financial institutions (referred to as Other Financials Corporations (OFCs)).
	Using this preferred measure, broad money M4 growth since the second quarter of 2008 is as shown in the table below.
	
		
			 M4-Inter OFCS 2008 Q2 2008 Q3 2008 Q4 2009 Q1 2009 Q2 2009 Q3 2009 Q4 2010 Q1 2010 Q2 2010 Q3 2010 Q4 2011 Q1 
			 Annual Growth Rate (%) 6.6 4.3 3.7 4.4 3.1 1.9 1.0 0.8 1.0 1.9 2.5 1.5 
		
	
	The Bank of England does not publish forecasts of money supply growth.

Banking: Royal Bank of Scotland

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the authors of the report commissioned by the Financial Services Authority into the collapse of Royal Bank of Scotland formally interviewed the current and immediate past chairmen and chief executives of the Royal Bank of Scotland and the current chairman and chief executive of the Financial Services Authority.

Lord Sassoon: The preparation of the report, including those interviewed, is a matter for the Financial Services Authority as independent regulator.

Banks: Lending

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the amount of money lent to small and medium-sized enterprises in the first three months of this year by banks in which they have an interest.

Lord Sassoon: On 9 February 2011 the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a new commitment by the UK's biggest high street banks on lending expectations and capacity. As part of this commitment, the banks will make available appropriate capital and resources to support £190 billion of new credit to businesses in 2011, up from £179 billion in 2010. If demand exceeds this, the banks will lend more, including creating the balance sheet capacity necessary to do so. £76 billion of this lending capacity will be available to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This is a 15 per cent increase on 2010 lending of £66 billion.
	The Bank of England reported the banks' first quarter performance against the Merlin commitment on 23 May. The banks lent an aggregate total of £47.3 billion in the quarter ended 31 March 2011, of which £16.8 billion was lent to SMEs. The Government are encouraged that the banks are broadly on track to meet their overall commitment, but believes the banks must do more to lend to SMEs.
	Lloyds Banking Group and the Royal Bank of Scotland recently announced their first quarter lending performance in their Interim Results. Lloyds lent £10.3 billion to businesses, of which £3.3 billion was lent to SMEs; and RBS lent £15 billion to businesses, of which £6.7 billion was lent to SMEs.

Benefits

Lord Stevenson of Balmacara: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, as a result of paying reduced national insurance contributions while working, some women's benefit entitlements are capped at amounts not related to their contributions; and whether such women are able to top up their contributions in order to receive increased benefits.

Lord Freud: National insurance (NI) contributions paid at the married woman's or widow's reduced rate do not generate entitlement to Category A pension. However, a married woman can qualify for a Category B basic pension, currently payable at a maximum rate of £61.20, derived from her husband's NI contributions from the point both she and her husband have reached pension age. Similarly a widow can qualify for a Category B basic pension, currently payable at a maximum rate of £102.15, derived from her late husband's NI contributions.
	Where a woman has entitlement to both Category B basic pension and Category A basic pension (built up either before or after paying NI contributions at the reduced rate) both pensions are payable subject to the combined total not exceeding the maximum rate of Category B pension for an appropriate married woman or a widow. In the event that a woman's Category A basic pension entitlement is equal to or higher than the relevant maximum rate of Category B pension, only her Category A basic pension entitlement is payable.
	A woman cannot pay voluntary Class 2 or 3 NI contributions for years in respect of which she has elected to pay NI at the reduced rate. However, she may, subject to time limits, be eligible to pay voluntary contributions for years in respect of which she has not so elected. This would boost her Category A pension entitlement, which may be combined with any Category B basic pension entitlement as explained above.
	Notes:
	1. Women have not been able to make the reduced rate election since 12 May 1977. However, women who were already paying the reduced rate at this point were allowed to continue their election and pay reduced rates.
	2. The election would lapse:
	if, since 6 April 1978, there were two consecutive years during which no Class 1 contributions were paid (or treated as paid), and the woman was
	not self-employed
	if the marriage was ended through divorce or annulment
	at the end of the tax year in which the woman's widow's bereavement benefit ended
	if the woman chose to cancel it.

Benefits

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government what would be the effect on the gross and net fiscal savings of time-limiting contributory Employment and Support Allowance for those in the Work-Related Activity Group, if the time limit proposed in the Welfare Reform Bill were applied after (a) two, (b) five, or (c) ten years instead of the proposed one year; and, in each case, what is their estimate of how many recipients would be affected by the time limit.

Lord Freud: As part of the Welfare Reform Bill we have set out our intention to introduce a time limit of one year for those claiming contributory employment and support allowance (ESA) and who are placed in the Work Related Activity Group (WRAG). The intention is that the time limit would apply after one year duration on contributory ESA. In total the policy is expected to generate annual savings of around £400 million in 2012-13 rising to £1.1 billion by 2014-15.
	If the proposal were to change so that the time limit was extended to two or five years, this would reduce the expected benefit savings as shown in the tables below. It is not possible to model the effect of a 10-year time limit since our internal modelling projections do not extend this far.
	
		
			 Two year time limit 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 
			 Estimated savings from 12 month time limit (£m) 420 780 1,090 1,330 1,380 
			 Estimated savings from 2 year time limit (£m) 150 360 670 970 1,230 
			 Change to estimated savings (£millions) -270 -420 -420 -360 -140 
			 % change from 12 month time limit 64% 54% 39% 27% 10% 
			 Estimate of the total numbers affected by time limiting 100,000 200,000 350,000 500,000 600,000 
			 Five year time limit 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 
			 Estimated savings from 12 month time limit (£m) 420 780 1,090 1,330 1,380 
			 Estimated savings from 5 year time limit (£m) 0 10 50 110 280 
			 Change to estimated savings (£millions) -420 -770 -1040 -1220 -1100 
			 % change from 12 month time limit -100% -99% -96% -92% -80% 
			 Estimate of the total numbers affected by time limiting 0 0 20,000 60,000 130,000 
		
	
	Figures are in cash terms, and are for Great Britain. They are rounded to the nearest £10 million or 10,000 claimants.

Benefits

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government what would be the effect on the gross and net fiscal savings and on the number of recipients affected, if the initial 13-week assessment period were excluded from the calculation of the proposed one-year time limit on contributory Employment and Support Allowance proposed in the Welfare Reform Bill.

Lord Freud: As part of the Welfare Reform Bill we have set out our intention to introduce a time limit of one year for those claiming contributory employment and support allowance (ESA) and who are placed in the Work Related Activity Group (WRAG). The intention is that time spent in the assessment phase will count towards the 365 day period of the time limit. In total the policy is expected to generate annual savings of £400 million in 2012-13 rising to £1.1 billion by 2014-15.
	If the proposal were to change so that the time limit period is extended by 13 weeks for all claimants affected, this would reduce the expected benefit savings.
	The table below shows the expected change in the annual net savings if the length of the time limit was increased by 13 weeks. It shows estimated overall costs to the Exchequer of around £100 million per year from 2012-13 to 2014-15.
	
		
			  2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016117 
			 Estimated savings from current policy (£m) 420 780 1,090 1,330 1,380 
			 Change to estimated savings (£millions) -100 -110 -120 -60 -40 
			 % change from current policy -24% -15% -11% -5% -3% 
			 Change in the total numbers affected by time limiting -50,000 -60,000 -60,000 -30,000 -20,000 
		
	
	Figures are in cash terms, and are for Great Britain. They are rounded to the nearest £10 million or 10,000 claimants.

Charter of Fundamental Rights

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Lord Howell of Guildford on 19 May (WS 94) concerning the European Union Foreign Affairs and General Affairs Council held on 23 May, what effect the proposal by the European Commission on action to secure compliance with the Charter of Fundamental Rights will have on the United Kingdom.

Lord McNally: The Charter of Fundamental Rights does no more than restate the rights and principles that already applied in the European Union before the Lisbon Treaty came into force. It confers no new rights, and does not give the Commission any new powers. As the Government already seek to ensure that the rights restated in the charter are respected in the United Kingdom when it is implementing European law, no new action is envisaged in response to the proposal.

Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority: Staff

Lord Stevens of Ludgate: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the different levels of medical and dental insurance provided for employees of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority; and how many members of staff are given each level of medical and dental insurance.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government how much of the £3.1 million spent on medical and dental fees in 2009-10 by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority was accounted for by medical and dental insurance for employees.

Lord McNally: CICA does not provide medical or dental insurance for its staff.

Digital Economy Act 2010

Lord Whitty: To ask Her Majesty's Government what conclusions Ofcom and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have come to on the practicability of measures regarding filesharing under the Digital Economy Act 2010.

Baroness Rawlings: Implementation of the online copyright infringement measures in the Digital Economy Act remains, in our view, the most proportionate and practical way to tackle widespread infringement of copyright online. The judgment from the recent judicial review, which agreed that the Government's approach was a more efficient, focused and fair system than the current arrangements, will require changes to our original proposal on how costs are shared and we are currently considering the changes which will need to be made to the cost-sharing statutory instrument in light of this. Once we are clear on what changes need to be made both the statutory instrument and the draft code will need to be notified to the European Commission under the Technical Standards Directive. Separately, the Government commissioned a report by Ofcom into the workability of Sections 17 and 18 of the Act. That report is due to be delivered shortly. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport will set out what action we plan to take as soon as we have had an opportunity to consider the report and all other relevant factors.

Disabled People: Grants

Baroness King of Bow: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much funding was made available for Disabled Facilities Grants in each local authority in London in each of the past four years.

Baroness Hanham: The links below from the Department for Communities and Local Government website provide details of the allocations for Disabled Facilities Grant made available in each local authority in London in each of the past four years.
	2011-12
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/xls/1856287.xls
	2010-11
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/xls/1527188.xls
	2009-10
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/xls/grantallocations2009-10.xls
	2008-09
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/xls/dfgallocations2008-09.xls

Education

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the advice given by York City Council on the duty of local education authorities to ensure that children of school age are receiving suitable education; and what action they intend to take.

Lord Hill of Oareford: York City Council is responsible for any advice it gives about its duties relating to children of school age receiving a suitable education. We have looked at the information for parents published on the Council's website and will be seeking clarification of some issues.

Education: Classics

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many colleges and universities offered a postgraduate certificate of education in classics in England in each year since 1990; and which they were.

Lord Hill of Oareford: The available information is given in the table and shows mainstream providers offering postgraduate initial teacher training courses specialising in classics since 1998-99.
	
		
			 Number of postgraduate initial teacher training courses in classics offered by mainstream providers 
			 Years: 1998-99 to 2011-12 
			 England 
			  1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Total 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 3 2 3 4 3 2 
			 University of Cambridge 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
			 Centre for British Teachers 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 University of Gloucestershire 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 
			 King's College London 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
			 St Mary's University College 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 University of Buckingham 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 
		
	
	Source: TDA 's ITT Trainee Number Census and Performance Profiles

Education: Classics

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the percentage of classics postgraduate certificates of education (PGCE) of all PGCEs completed in English colleges and universities in each of the years since 1990.

Lord Hill of Oareford: The available information is given in the table.
	
		
			 Teachers gaining qualified teacher status via postgraduate college based courses 
			 1998-99 to 2008-09 
			 England 
			  Primary and Secondary of which, Secondary of which number, Classics % 
			 1998-99 15,164 10,639 40 0.4% 
			 1999-00 14,846 10,323 23 0.2% 
			 2000-01 16,153 10,655 34 0.3% 
			 2001-02 16,940 11,330 31 0.3% 
			 2002-03 19,177 12,382 33 0.3% 
			 2003-04 21,460 13,876 33 0.2% 
			 2004-05 21,784 13,648 32 0.2% 
			 2005-06 21,599 13,600 26 0.2% 
			 2006-07 21,078 13,167 27 0.2% 
			 2007-08 20,262 12,344 27 0.2% 
			 2008-09 20,270 12,304 24 0.2% 
		
	
	Source: TDA s Performance Profiles
	1. Includes universities and other higher education institutions, SCITT and Open University as well as Bradford FE College, but excludes employment based routes.
	2. The percentage of teachers gaining QTS specialising in classics is based on the secondary total, and excludes those gaining QTS via primary initial teacher training.

Education: Classics

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made estimates of the numbers of teachers taking a Postgraduate Certificate of Education in Classics in England for future years; and, if so, what are those estimates.

Lord Hill of Oareford: For 2011-12 academic year, 25 Classics postgraduate initial teacher training places have been allocated to mainstream providers in England.
	An estimate for the number of postgraduate Classics places in mainstream providers for 2012-13 and beyond is not currently available.

Egypt and Tunisia

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether assistance provided in 2011 to (a) Tunisia, and (b) Egypt, has yet produced economic effect; and, if not, when it may be expected to do so.

Baroness Verma: On 26 May, the Prime Minister announced £110 million of assistance to support countries in North Africa and the wider region, though the Arab Partnership. This includes £5 million allocated prior to the Arab Spring. Programming is in its infancy. Results measures will be built into all programmes.

Elections: Commonwealth Citizens

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Commonwealth citizens are entitled to vote in Northern Ireland in each constituency; and in which types of elections.

Lord Shutt of Greetland: The Northern Ireland Office does not hold copies of the electoral register for any constituency in Northern Ireland. The Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland is responsible for maintaining the electoral register there and the Noble Lord may wish to make enquiries relating to the register to the Chief Electoral Officer directly.

Elections: Voting System

Lord Teverson: To ask Her Majesty's Government what investigations they have undertaken to assess the level of multiple voting by electors registered at one or more addresses in the alternative vote referendum.

Lord McNally: An individual may be registered at more than one address if it appears to the electoral registration officer for the local authority area in which each address is located that they are resident in that area. However, it is an offence for a person to vote twice in a general or European Parliamentary election, or a national referendum.
	The Electoral Commission and the Association of Chief Police Officers collected data on the allegations of electoral malpractice which were reported to the police at the referendum on the voting system and will publish their findings in due course. The Government will consider any recommendations which emerge from this analysis and will continue to keep procedures under review to ensure that the electoral process is secure.

Energy: Biofuels

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sassoon on 26 April (WA 36), what is their assessment of the replacement of the tax differential on fuel duty proposed for 2012 with a certificate trading scheme, given that these certificates recently traded at £0 due to the import of subsidised bioethanol from the United States; and whether this change will provide sufficient incentive for market investment.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sassoon on 26 April (WA 36), given the minimal value of traded renewable transport fuel certificates (RTFCs), what effect they expect that doubling the value of RTFCs will have on investors who wish to continue or develop their businesses.

Earl Attlee: As part of the Government's measures to address climate change, the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) ensures a growing proportion of UK road transport fuels is from sustainable renewable sources. The RTFO includes a certificate trading mechanism to increase the efficiency of compliance. The value of individual certificates is determined by the market.
	The value of renewable transport fuel certificates (RTFCs) was close to zero during the first year of the RTFO. There is evidence that the value of certificates was affected by a discrepancy in the Renewable Transport Fuel Order which caused a reduction in demand and price of RTFCs. The 2009 amendment to the order corrected this discrepancy. Since 2009 RTFCs have traded at a price.
	Throughout year two certificates traded at between 6 and 12 pence per certificate. Data available for the third obligation period indicates that certificates have traded at between 15 and 24 pence per certificate to date. Certificates trading for year three may continue until September 2011.
	The Department for Transport therefore considers that awarding two RTFCs per litre of biofuels from waste, residues and lignocellulosic material will provide incentives for investment, whilst allowing obligated businesses the flexibility to choose the most cost effective route to compliance.

Energy: Gas

Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke: To ask Her Majesty's Government how the United Kingdom's level of gas reserves compares with those of (a) the United States, (b) France, and (c) Germany.

Lord Marland: Storage is one of a number of balancing tools available to the UK market. These are: on the supply side, indigenous production, import flows, and storage; and, on the demand side, demand-side response, primarily from the power generation sector. The level and flexibility afforded by each of these tools varies from country to country. The UK gas market is well served by all of them. In addition, market arrangements also have an impact on the level of storage capacity required, and prices in UK's large and liquid spot market provide a good signal for tightness in supply and demand fundamentals.
	The table below provides data for aggregate storage capacity, consumption, production and imports for the UK, US, France and Germany. The data come from the International Energy Agency (IEA).
	
		
			 Bent (2009) Storage Capacity Consumption Production Imports 
			 US 121.1 647.0 594.0 105.8 
			 Germany 19.9 92.6 14.5 94.6 
			 France 12.5 44.5 0.9 47.0 
			 UK 4.3 90.8 62.5 41.2

Energy: Nuclear Industry

Baroness Smith of Basildon: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the training in health and safety issues for those working in the nuclear industry.

Lord Freud: The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSWA) places a general duty on nuclear site operators to ensure the competency of their staff and the provision of appropriate training. In addition there are specific provisions under the nuclear installations licensing regime requiring suitable training for all those who have responsibility for any operations which may affect safety. These provisions further require that only suitably qualified and experienced persons perform any duties which may affect the safety of operations on the site.
	Inspectors of the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) inspect for compliance with these requirements as part of the regulator's comprehensive inspection programmes for nuclear installations. Reports on those inspections are published on the ONR Internet site.

Enterprise Zones

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their timetable for the introduction of enterprise zones.

Baroness Hanham: At Budget, the Government invited 11 local enterprise partnerships to come forward with proposals for enterprise zones, and announced that a further 10 would be sought from open competition.
	Government sought expressions of interest to the open competition by the end of April. The deadline for full bids closes 30 June. An announcement of the 10 successful bids will be in the summer.

EU: Economic Governance

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Lord Sassoon on 30 March (WS 93-4) concerning the Ecofin meeting on 15 March, whether the package of six legislative proposals or any one of them aimed at strengthening economic governance in the European Union will transfer any new powers from the United Kingdom to the European Union institutions; and whether the United Kingdom can withdraw from the arrangements at any time of their choosing.

Lord Sassoon: The Government support measures to improve fiscal discipline within the European Union as a whole and, particularly, within the euro area. We therefore support the proposed legislation which aims to strengthen economic governance.
	The draft legislation does not transfer powers from the United Kingdom to EU institutions. The Government have made a clear commitment that any proposals that would transfer power from the UK to the EU would be subject to a referendum in the UK.
	Except for the cases where the UK has a specific opt out or exemption, a EU legislation is binding on the United Kingdom.

EU: Financial Support

Lord Davies of Stamford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the total gross external liabilities of the banking systems of (a) Greece, (b) Portugal, and (c) the Republic of Ireland; and what is their estimate of the proportion of those that are held by depositors or investors (1) elsewhere in the European Union as a whole, (2) elsewhere in the Eurozone as a whole, and (3) in the United Kingdom.

Lord Sassoon: The Bank for International Settlements publishes data on the external liabilities of European banking systems.
	More detailed breakdowns have been made available by the central banks of Greece, Portugal and Ireland. They can be found at the following websites:
	Bank for International Settlements-www.bis.org Bank of Greece-www.bankofgreece.grBank of Portugal-www.bportugal.ptCentral Bank of Ireland-www.centralbank.ie

EU: Taxation

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Lord Sassoon on 19 May (WS 87) concerning the meeting of Ecofin on 17 May, whether they will give details of the proposal to strengthen the European Union's directive on the taxation of savings interest; and whether the proposal would constitute European Union intervention in matters of United Kingdom direct taxation.

Lord Sassoon: The savings taxation directive provides for the automatic exchange of information between member states to ensure that tax on savings interest is paid in the member state where it is due. The proposal to strengthen the directive would extend its scope to cover a wider range of savings income. Its aim is to combat cross-border tax evasion and help member states protect their tax systems. The Government support the proposal.

EU: Transport

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government which reasoned opinions, pilots or infraction proceedings from the European Commission assigned to the Department for Transport are currently unresolved.

Earl Attlee: There are four reasoned opinions, six pilot cases, and 11 letters of formal notice under Article 258 assigned to the Department for Transport that are currently unresolved. We are working with the European Commission to resolve the outstanding cases.
	The titles of the reasoned opinion cases are in the public domain and are listed below. However, the titles of the pilot and Article 258 cases are not in the public domain and correspondence between the European Commission and the member states at these stages of the cases is generally regarded by both parties as confidential between them.
	
		
			 Directive number Subject 
			 2009/149/EC Common Safety Indicators and Common Methods to Calculate Accident Costs 
			 - Discrimination on the basis of nationality regarding pay of seafarers 
			 2008/110/EC Directive on safety on the Community railways 
			 2009/16/EC Port State Control

European Arrest Warrant

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many times they have had someone returned to the United Kingdom using the European Arrest Warrant since its inception.

Baroness Browning: The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (for Scotland) are the designated authorities in the UK responsible for processing European Arrest Warrants (EAWs).
	The following table shows the number of surrenders under the EAW to the UK since the inception of the EAW in 2004.
	The data for the financial year 2010/11 is currently being verified and will be published in the SOCA Annual Report in July 2011.
	
		
			 YEAR NUMBER OF SURRENDERS TO THE UK 
			 2010 (01.01.2010 -31.03.2010) 14 
			 2009 80 
			 2008 96 
			 2007 99 
			 2006 76 
			 2005 63 
			 2004 19 
			 Total 447

European Union

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government why they made five separate Written Statements concerning the European Union on 19 May; and whether they consider the impact of the European Union on United Kingdom policy making is growing.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The purpose of Written Statements is to make announcements and provide information to the House in a clear and accessible way. On that basis, this Government consider that it is useful and appropriate to make separate Statements on each council. The subjects of the Written Statements were:
	Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN);Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council;Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council;Foreign Affairs Council and General Affairs Council; andJustice and Home Affairs Council.
	The Government conduct and publish impact assessments for legislation implementing EU measures, which apply the same impact assessment rigour as for domestic legislation. The Government also address the potential impact of EU measures through their commitment to engage with the European Commission before it has adopted proposals, in order to increase UK influence on the drafting of EU legislation.

Gambling: Horseracing

Baroness Trumpington: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to appoint an independent arbitrator to ensure that all of the United Kingdom racecourse owners and racecourse bookmakers resolve their disputes on pitch tenures before the August 2012 deadline.

Baroness Garden of Frognal: The Government have no plans to appoint an independent arbitrator to resolve this issue at present. An agreement in principle was reached in 2009 and discussions between the racecourse owners and bookmakers have continued, with several having agreed terms. The Minister for Tourism and Heritage at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is encouraging the courses yet to agree terms to do so as soon as possible. He is following their progress closely and has indicated that all options remain open to him if agreement is not reached.

Gold Bullion

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have reviewed the systemic risk posed by gold bullion exchange traded funds.

Lord Sassoon: The Government are aware of the recent developments in the Exchange Traded Funds industry and is working closely with the Financial Services Authority and the Bank of England to analyse the risks associated with these products.
	The Financial Stability Board has carried out analysis of the Exchange Traded Funds market at the request of its members. The UK is a member of the Financial Stability Board and is supportive of further analysis in this area.

Government Departments: Consultants

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many individuals who left the employment of the Department for Transport between 2007 and 2011 have been employed as consultants by the department in 2009-10 and 2010-11.

Earl Attlee: Within the Department for Transport (Central) and its seven executive agencies, five individuals who left employment between 1 January 2007 and 31 March 2011 were then employed as consultants by the department.
	The five individuals were employed as consultants in 2009-10; three of the individuals continued to be employed as consultants in 2010-11.

Home Responsibilities Protection

Lord Stevenson of Balmacara: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many married women who chose to pay reduced national insurance contributions while working and did not change this when they stopped earning have been unable to benefit from home responsibilities protection.

Lord Freud: It is estimated that around 100,000 women who were aged 60 or over in Great Britain at the end of 2008-09, the latest year for which data are available, did not qualify for home responsibilities protection that could improve their own basic state pension entitlement for one or more years solely because they had ceased earning above the lower earnings limit for national insurance contributions and their elections to pay national insurance contributions at the married woman's and widow's reduced rate had not yet terminated. In total there were 7,360,000 women aged 60 and over at the end of 2008-09 in Great Britain.
	Source: Lifetime Labour Market Database 2, 2008/09 and 2008-based national population projections, Office for National Statistics
	Notes:
	1. The estimate from the Lifetime Labour Market database has been rounded to the nearest 10,000 women and is for Great Britain cases only.
	2. The estimate excludes those women who would still fail the first and/or second contribution conditions if the Home Responsibilities protection had been able to count towards their Category A entitlement.
	3. Only women over State Pension age are included as we are unable to assess whether the Home Responsibilities Protection would improve basic State Pension entitlement until an individual has completed their working life.
	4. Women have not been able to make the reduced rate election since 12 May 1977. However, women who were already paying the reduced rate at this point were allowed to continue their election and pay reduced rates.
	5. The election would lapse:
	if, since 6 April 1978, there were two consecutive years during which no Class 1 contributions were paid (or treated as paid), and the woman was not self-employed
	if the marriage was ended through divorce or annulment
	at the end of the tax year in which the woman's widow's bereavement benefit ended
	if the woman chose to cancel it.
	6. Home Responsibilities Protection (HAP) was available in respect of the tax years 1978/79 to 2009/10 if insufficient National Insurance contributions had been paid or credited to make the year a qualifying year for basic pension purposes, where the person:
	was receiving Child Benefit in respect of a child under the age of 16
	was caring for a severely disabled person for a minimum of 35 hours per week
	was receiving a carers premium to income support
	in the case of years 2003/04 to 2009/10, was a foster parent.
	6. For people reaching pension age before 6 April 2010 HRP was not a National Insurance credit, it operated by reducing the number of years of National Insurance contributions or credits required for entitlement to a Category A basic pension to a minimum of 20. Women who elected to pay National Insurance contributions at the reduced rate will also have entitlement to a Category B basic pension based on their husbands contributions. In the generality of cases HAP will only have created a financial advantage if it resulted in their Category A entitlement exceeding their Category B entitlement or if the woman reached pension age before her husband and therefore did not qualify for a Category B pension until he reached pension age.
	7. For people reaching pension age from 6 April 2010 onwards years of HAP were converted into years of National Insurance credits and from April 2010 it was replaced by weekly National Insurance credits for people who are:
	receiving Child Benefit for a child under the age of 12
	foster parents
	caring for one or more severely disabled adults or children for a minimum of 35 hours per week.

Houses of Parliament: Cycle Hire

Lord Butler of Brockwell: To ask the Chairman of Committees what further conversations he has had with Transport for London about providing a docking station for Barclays bicycles close to the Houses of Parliament.

Lord Brabazon of Tara: The Parliamentary Estates Directorate (PED) has been in discussions with Transport for London (TfL) regarding this matter and a site for a docking station on Abingdon Green has been agreed. This land is owned by the House of Commons and I understand that the House of Commons has agreed in principle to grant a lease although the full details and responsibilities have not yet been agreed. Detailed designs now need to be developed so that planning permission can be sought, and PED will continue to work with TfL on the next steps.

Housing

Lord Whitty: To ask Her Majesty's Government what they intend to do to increase the supply of affordable rented accommodation in the private and social housing sectors.

Baroness Hanham: The Government are investing nearly £4.5 billion in new affordable housing to help deliver up to 150,000 new affordable homes between 2011-12 and 2014-15 in England.
	The New Homes Bonus is designed to incentivise all increases in housing supply, including new homes, conversions and empty properties brought back into use. It is for local authorities and their communities to decide the type of homes they want and the shape of future development.
	For all developments, the New Homes Bonus is based on the council tax from net increase in effective housing stock with a further enhancement of £350 for affordable homes and will be paid for the following six years.
	Rents in the private sector are set by individual landlords in accordance with local market conditions. This Government have sought to ensure that rents are not artificially inflated by centrally imposed regulatory burdens; and to provide support through the housing benefit system for those unable to afford market rents without assistance. In the longer term, the recent Budget contained measures directed at increasing investment in the sector which, by increasing supply, will exert a downward pressure on private sector rents.

Housing

Baroness King of Bow: To ask Her Majesty's Government what has been the guideline for rent increases for council tenants in each year since 2001.

Baroness Hanham: Guideline rent increases for England since 2001 are shown in the table below:
	
		
			 Financial Year Guideline Rent Increase 
			 2001-02 4.50% 
			 2002-03 5.43% 
			 2003-04 5.01% 
			 2004-05 6.11% 
			 2005-06 5.74% 
			 2006-07 9.95% 
			 2007-08 7.22% 
			 2008-09 6.03% 
			 2009-10 3.10% 
			 2010-11 3.10% 
			 2011-12 6.80% 
		
	
	Guideline rents and guideline rent increases reflect notional figures used in the calculation of housing revenue account subsidy and are not the same as actual increases charged by local authorities to tenants.
	The inflation-linked formula for annual rent increases was inherited from the previous government. It includes a recommended limit on individual rent increases of no more than RPI+0.5% + £2 in any year.

Housing

Baroness King of Bow: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (a) social rented homes, and (b) low cost home ownership homes, were built in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in 2009-10 and 2010-11.

Baroness Hanham: Official statistics on gross additional affordable housing supply published by DCLG show that there were 1,990 affordable homes delivered in Tower Hamlets in 2009-10 of which 1,260 were for social rent, 70 for intermediate rent and 660 for low cost home ownership (all figures rounded to nearest 10). New affordable housing can be delivered through new build and acquisitions, although the majority of the additional supply in 2009-10 in Tower Hamlets was through new build.
	Data on total affordable supply in each local authority area for 2010-11 are not yet available and will be published by DCLG in the autumn.

Housing

Baroness King of Bow: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many recipients of Housing Benefit in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets are subject to a non-dependent deduction, broken down by each rate.

Lord Freud: This information is not available.
	The department does collect information on non-dependant deductions applied to awards of housing benefit, but to assess the completeness of recording and quality assure the figures would incur disproportionate cost.
	From February 2007, DWP has been collecting more detailed HB/CTB data electronically from local authorities. Over time this will improve the accuracy, timeliness and level of detail available in the published statistics, as the information supplied is quality assured.
	Housing benefit caseload and average weekly amounts are available at local authority area level and these are published on the department's website at http://www.dwp. gov.uk/asd/hbctb.asp.

Housing

Baroness King of Bow: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much discretionary housing payment funding is being made available to each local authority in London for 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14.

Lord Freud: The Discretionary Housing Payments funding for London authorities for 2011-12 is provided in the table below.
	The Discretionary Housing Payments funding for 2012-13 and 2013-14 is not yet available as the distributions to individual authorities are yet to take place.
	
		
			 Discretionary Housing Payment funding for London authorities 2011-12 
			 Authority Discretionary Housing Payment-Government contribution (£) 
			 Barking 140,486 
			 Barnet 367,785 
			 Bexley 83,039 
			 Brent 539,188 
			 Bromley 122,441 
			 Camden 330,258 
			 City of London 3,427 
			 Croydon 269,981 
			 Ealing 382,232 
			 Enfield 275,082 
			 Greenwich 345,536 
			 Hackney 292,211 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 219,084 
			 Haringey 366,870 
			 Harrow 150,295 
			 Havering 87,807 
			 Hillingdon 170,664 
			 Hounslow 141,822 
			 Islington 162,478 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 463,789 
			 Kingston upon Thames 85,704 
			 Lambeth 239,142 
			 Lewisham 253,914 
			 Merton 136,336 
			 Newham 266,262 
			 Redbridge 180,476 
			 Richmond upon Thames 137,113 
			 Southwark 166,711 
			 Sutton 89,521 
			 Tower Hamlets 218,048 
			 Waltham Forest 166,601 
			 Wandsworth 222,607 
			 Westminster 1,104,144

Housing Benefit

Baroness King of Bow: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many local housing allowance recipients in Tower Hamlets will lose (a) all, and (b) part of, their allowance as a result of caps due to be introduced in 2011-12.

Lord Freud: It is estimated that 970 housing benefit claimants in Tower Hamlets will experience a loss as a result of the caps applied to local housing allowance and the removal of the five bedroom rate. Most existing claimants are expected to remain entitled to housing benefit as they become affected by the local housing allowance changes.
	However, in cases where the housing benefit award does not currently cover the full rent due to income or other deductions, some customers may lose their whole award.
	We are unable to estimate how many people will flow off housing benefit as a result of the caps, partly because the caps are a part of a package of reforms, but also because this will depend on the precise earnings of housing benefit claimants at the time of transition.
	Customers who were receiving housing benefit according to local housing allowance rules before 1 April 2011 will receive up to nine months transitional protection from the date their claim is reviewed by the local authority, allowing them more time to adjust to the reduction in entitlement.
	Further details of the impact of local housing allowance reforms are presented in the document Impacts of Housing Benefit proposals: Changes to the Local Housing Allowance to be introduced in 2011-12. A copy has been placed in the Library and it can be found on the department's website at www.dwp.gov.ukldocs/impacts-of-hb-proposals.pdf.
	Notes:
	1. The estimates are based on the Single Housing Benefit Extract (DWP administrative data) from March 2010.
	2. The Local Housing Allowance caps and the removal of the five-bedroom rate were assessed jointly.

International Aid and Development

Lord Chidgey: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in the light of the letter by the Secretary of State for Defence to the Prime Minister regarding the level of spending on international aid and development, they will review spending levels and recipient countries.

Baroness Verma: As the Prime Minister made clear at the G8 conference in Deauville, the coalition Government are determined not to balance the books on the backs of the world's poorest people. The coalition agreement set out our commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of GNI on overseas aid from 2013. We are fully committed to enshrining this commitment into law. UK Government spend on overseas aid to 2014-15 has been set out in the Comprehensive Spending Review.
	The Department for International Development has recently conducted a comprehensive review of both its bilateral and multilateral aid programmes. The results of both reviews were published in March 2011. The reviews ensure that the aid budget will remain focused on delivering tangible and measurable results for the world's poorest people over the next four years.

Internet: Broadband

Lord Whitty: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate has been made of the proportion of the population of the United Kingdom which will have access by 2015 to (a) conventional fixed broadband, (b) superfast broadband, (c) wireless broadband, and (d) satellite broadband services.

Baroness Rawlings: The Government's ambition is for nine out of 10 homes and businesses in every county in the UK to have access to superfast broadband by 2015, with the rest of the population having access to at least a 2Mbps connection. The precise mix of technologies will be determined by a combination of market-led deployments and local circumstances, but we expect fixed, wireless and satellite broadband services all to play a role.

Internet: Broadband

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Rawlings on 18 May (WA 344) concerning broadband delivery, against what criteria the conclusion was reached by the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport that he was satisfied with Broadband Delivery UK's performance.

Baroness Rawlings: The Government's vision is that the UK should have the best superfast broadband network in Europe by 2015. The criteria for making that judgment will be published in the form of a scorecard which we intend to publish in the summer and to update annually. The Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport holds regular meetings with Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) officials and is satisfied that their programme of work, as set out in the Broadband Delivery Programme Delivery Model published on 17 May 2011, can deliver the Government's vision.

Internet: Broadband

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many homes in each of the London Boroughs are in an area with low speed broadband.

Baroness Rawlings: Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) is assessing current broadband provision at community level across the UK in its work to deliver the coalition Government's objective to facilitate universal broadband access of at least 2Mbps and achieve the best superfast broadband network in Europe by 2015.
	BDUK's estimate of the number of premises in each London Borough with an estimated connection speed of less than 2 Mbps is given in the table
	
		
			 Borough Total number of premises Number of premises with an estimated connection speed of Less than 2Mbit/s 
			 Barking and Dagenham 72,970 4,003 
			 Barnet 141,638 2,382 
			 Bexley 98,475 2,246 
			 Brent 105,875 1,667 
			 Bromley 139,175 4,345 
			 Camden 90,751 422 
			 City of London 11,241 6 
			 City of Westminster 110,624 49 
			 Croydon 149,335 7,820 
			 Ealing 126,974 7,063 
			 Enfield 123,122 2,692 
			 Greenwich 104,621 1,866 
			 Hackney 96,439 457 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 74,389 440 
			 Haringey 92,034 866 
			 Harrow 89,506 1,584 
			 Havering 103,282 8,465 
			 Hillingdon 109,049 7,665 
			 Hounslow 97,706 2,860 
			 Islington 89,548 368 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 72,476 38 
			 Kingston upon Thames 66,589 1,089 
			 Lambeth 121,726 1,126 
			 Lewisham 117,280 1,175 
			 Merton 83,070 2,489 
			 Newham 102,900 2,200 
			 Redbridge 103,407 1,810 
			 Richmond upon Thames 84,122 2,043 
			 Southwark 128,316 893 
			 Sutton 82,263 1,300 
			 Tower Hamlets 109,593 1,460 
			 Waltham Forest 99,940 1,288 
			 Wandsworth 128,034 2,531

Local Authorities: Guidance

Lord Ouseley: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to reduce the level of guidance given to councils each year in order to reduce bureaucracy and save money.

Baroness Hanham: Yes. Decentralising power and lifting the unnecessary burdens and red tape that tie the hands of local councils and local communities is a priority for the Government.
	As an illustration of this cross-government agenda of decentralisation, the Department for Communities and Local Government has taken many positive steps to free local councils from unnecessary central rules, intervention and guidance, including:
	the abolition of comprehensive area assessment;the abolition of regional spatial strategies through the Localism Bill;the withdrawal of guidance on annual monitoring reports and local development framework monitoring;the curtailment of best value guidance, the abolition of the two tier code and removing associated statutory duties;the revocation of planning guidance imposing Whitehall density targets and restricting the number of parking spaces for new homes;the abolition of Whitehall guidance on road closures which hindered local street parties;the abolition of the National Indicator Set and Place Surveys; the abolition of 4,700 local area agreement targets;abolition of the top-down Government Offices for the Regions; the phasing out of ring-fenced grants; andthe introduction of a general power of competence via the Localism Bill.
	Further decentralising work is being undertaken-such as reducing the burden of data reporting to central government through the new Single Data List, and curtailing the 1,000 pages of planning guidance via the new, succinct National Planning Policy Framework.

Local Authorities: Statutory Duties

The Earl of Clancarty: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their response to the consultation which ended on 26 April on the statutory duties currently placed on local authorities; what action they will take; and when.

Baroness Hanham: In March, the Department for Communities and Local Government announced our intention to make public and to review the statutory duties placed on local authorities by central government.
	At no point in recent history has there been a comprehensive list of the legal duties placed on councils.
	To remedy this, the Government agreed with the Local Government Association that we should compile such a list. Our aims in doing so were first, to provide clarity about what those duties are, and second, to assess which duties do not serve the public interest, and which may be creating unnecessary burdens and bureaucracy for local authorities, without improving the services provided to the public.
	We published a draft list in March. It contained over 1,200 duties stemming from primary legislation for which departments across Whitehall are responsible. We invited local authorities and the general public to respond, identifying any existing duties that had not been identified and so needed to be added to the list, and asking for comments on whether any particular duties were no longer relevant.
	From the outset, we have been clear this is an exercise in getting together a comprehensive list and obtaining any feedback from councils on duties that are not relevant. We said unequivocally that the Government would not remove any statutory duties that protect vital front line services.
	However, since the publication of the draft list there unfortunately has been wilful misrepresentation suggesting that important duties that protect vital frontline services will be removed.
	I feel it important to clarify to the House that the Government have no intention to remove statutory protection where this will have a negative impact on the services provided to the public. Such protections that will rightly remain include, for example, services for vulnerable children such as those who are looked after or with special educational needs or disabilities, allotments, and libraries. These examples should not in any way be interpreted as an exclusive list-but rather these are areas which have been falsely suggested as having been considered for removal.
	The invitation to respond has now closed, following the receipt of over 6,000 responses.
	The next step will be for the department to analyse and review the representations. Any future work on whether to remove duties or associated guidance that only serve to create overly bureaucratic burdens on councils will be a separate process, and we will consult further where necessary. For the avoidance of doubt, the list of statutory duties is intended to be a comprehensive list of duties on local councils and so the inclusion of a particular duty is not an indication that the Government are considering that duty for removal.
	Our aim is, and will continue to be, to allow for the provision of better services to the public. I hope we can build a broad consensus for decentralisation in local government by removing unnecessary Whitehall burdens, while retaining important and useful requirements, thereby allowing councils to provide better value for money and higher quality local services to their residents.
	I will keep the House informed of progress.

National Insurance

Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many time-limited National Insurance numbers were issued in each of the last five years for which records are available.

Lord Freud: DWP does not issue time limited National Insurance numbers. This is because the NlNo provides a permanent numerical link between the individual and their National Insurance Contribution record in case of any future entitlement to contributory benefits or State Pension for the individual or bereavement benefits for their partner after death.

Northern Ireland: Human Rights Commission

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what correspondence they had with the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission during April 2011; and whether they will place copies of any correspondence in the Library of the House.

Lord Shutt of Greetland: The following piece of correspondence between the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) and the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) during April 2011 will be placed in the Library of the House:
	Letter dated 15 April 2011 from the NIHRC Director to the NIO.
	The noble Lord may wish to note that the Commission's Business Plan for 2011-12 and Strategic Plan for 2011-2013 referred to in this letter are due for publication in early June and a copy of each plan will then be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
	Further correspondence between the NIO and NIHRC during April 2011 has not been released because this relates to discussions about a Commissioner's personal circumstances and staff pay that remain ongoing.

Office of the Public Guardian

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government why the Office of the Public Guardian is proposing an increase in fees for vulnerable clients.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government by what percentage the Office of the Public Guardian are increasing fees imposed on vulnerable clients.

Lord McNally: The Office of the Public Guardian regularly reviews the fees charged for its services, to ensure that they are sufficient to meet the costs of its operation. The recent consultation, Office of the Public Guardian: Fees 2011/2012 (CP16/10), sought views on a number of proposed changes to the current regime to ensure fees charged are fair and equitable and continue to meet the OPG's costs going forward.
	The consultation opened on 28 February 2011 and closed on 21 May 2011. The Government are currently considering the responses received and will issue a formal consultation response once this process is complete.
	The consultation proposed making a number of changes to the current fee regime, including the removal or reduction of some fees and increases to some others. More fundamentally, it proposed restructuring the fees charged for the supervision of court-appointed deputies. It envisaged moving from the current tiered-fee scheme, to a new approach to charge a flat fee for the large majority of cases and introducing a basic administration fee for the lowest category of supervision. It also proposed raising the income threshold progressively over the next four years to reduce the number paying the standard fee.
	The net effect of the proposed changes would range from a maximum increase in fees charged of 83 per cent to a reduction of 80 per cent in fees charged, dependent on category.

Parking

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will revoke or amend traffic sign special directions found by parking adjudicators to permit parking signage that is ambiguous and misleading to motorists.

Earl Attlee: The Department for Transport gives careful consideration to each request from highway authorities before issuing any special direction. It is for local authorities to determine whether the conditions of a special direction meet their traffic management needs, propose alternative signing solutions where necessary and apply to the Department for Transport for the revocation or amendment of any special directions where this is appropriate.

Parking and Traffic Offences

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether provisions in the Traffic Management Act 2004 or its regulations create any exemption from parking restrictions that are exercisable by civil enforcement officers when engaged in parking enforcement operations; and, if not, what action they will take to ensure that this is brought to the attention of civil enforcement authorities.

Earl Attlee: Exemptions from parking restrictions are usually given in the relevant Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) made by the local authority using enabling powers contained in the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. These powers allow local authorities wide flexibility in determining the nature of parking restrictions, and any exemption from them are matters that need to be decided and implemented at the local level.
	The only exemptions normally given are for the emergency services (police, fire brigade and ambulance), statutory undertakers who cannot reasonably use other roads for a particular function and postal deliveries-but it is open to an authority to consider others.

Public Toilets

Baroness Randerson: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to take any further action to encourage local authorities to provide more Changing Places toilets.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made any assessment of the number of Changing Places toilets provided in England and Wales.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance is given to local authorities on the provision of Changing Places toilets in relation to compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to make the provision of public toilets by local authorities a legal duty.

Baroness Hanham: As part of a review of certain aspects of the building regulations, the Department for Communities and Local Government is carrying out work to consider whether there is a role for Government action to ensure an increased provision of Changing Places toilets. The department is working closely with the Local Government Association, the Changing Places Consortium and a number of industry bodies, to understand what prevents voluntary provision of these facilities and how to encourage provision of these facilities by existing providers, including local authorities, particularly in buildings such as large shopping centres.
	The latest figures provided by the Changing Places Consortium indicate that there are 183 Changing Places toilets in England and 12 in Wales.
	In March 2008 the previous administration published guidance in Improving Public Access to Better Quality Toilets that sought to encourage better public access to toilets in our cities, towns, and other public places. It also highlighted the importance of Changing Places toilets for people with profound and multiple disabilities as well as providing information on the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
	We believe that decentralisation is the way to ensure that public services and amenities better reflect local needs. Private sector provision in shopping and tourist areas, and approaches such as Community Toilet Schemes, where councils pay local shops and businesses a small fee to allow free public access to their toilets, can be a useful way to supplement public toilets managed by local authorities.

Railways: Electrification

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the statement by the Prime Minister at Swansea on 1 April that the extension of the rail electrification from Cardiff to Swansea was still under consideration, what is the estimated cost of this work; and how many Intercity Express all electric trains could be substituted for bimodal trains.

Earl Attlee: The electrification work between Cardiff and Swansea is estimated to cost £62 million.
	In our consideration of full electrification to Swansea, we calculate that an additional nine electric trains would be needed in place of bi-modes. However, additional diesel locomotives would be required (or alternatively the retention of High Speed Trains), to provide South Wales services during times of disruption, such as maintenance of the Severn Tunnel, and to allow continued provision of through services between London and West Wales.
	A key benefit of the bimode fleet is that during such incidents, passengers from South Wales will continue to enjoy the reduced journey times and the additional capacity that IEP (Intercity Express Programme) will deliver.

Railways: Franchises

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Attlee on 12 May (WA 245), how many experts the Department for Transport employs who work on franchising letting; what are their areas of expertise; what tasks they no longer undertake in order to work on the franchise process; and who previously conducted this work in previous franchise lettings.

Earl Attlee: The number of internal experts employed by the Department for Transport whose primary role is franchise letting is currently approximately 23. This flexes up or down depending on the number of franchise lettings planned and being undertaken. Roles undertaken include policy formulation, specification, procurement, financial analysis, and legal and economic advice. In addition other departmental experts may be called upon to support the analysis of bidders' submissions, but this is not part of their normal day-to-day duties.
	External specialists providing technical and legal advice are required to provide specific support.
	The department has undergone a recent reorganisation and allocated staff to the planned franchising work load. The staff allocated to these roles have been very largely drawn from those who have undertaken previous re-franchising.

Railways: Ticketing

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the invitation to tender for the Intercity West Coast franchise, what figures were used to establish the average time taken to buy a ticket in a station ticket office compared with five years ago; what allowances were made for any changes in queuing times; and what steps were taken to allow those wishing to redeem national train vouchers at ticketing sites other than station ticket offices to do so.

Earl Attlee: Ticket office queuing time and national train vouchers do not form part of the invitation to tender document for the Intercity West Coast franchise. The requirement to monitor and manage ticket office queues and to accept various forms of payment is part of the ticketing and settlement agreement, which the new franchise will be required to adopt.

Rape

Lord Bach: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to reduce the number of specialist rape prosecutors employed by the Crown Prosecution Service over the period covered by the Comprehensive Spending Review.

Lord Wallace of Tankerness: There are no plans to reduce the number of specialist rape prosecutors employed by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) over the period covered by the Comprehensive Spending Review, but the number of specialist rape prosecutors is determined by local Chief Crown Prosecutors based on local business needs. The Director of Public Prosecutions is committed to the effective prosecution of rape by specialist rape prosecutors in the CPS working in conjunction with police investigators.

Rape

Baroness Stern: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people were convicted of rape of a female in 2009 and received determinate custodial sentences of less than (a) life, (b) 15 years, (c) 14 years, (d) 13 years, (e) 12 years, (f) 11 years, (g) 10 years, (h) 9 years, (i) 8 years, (j) 7 years, (k) 6 years, (l) 5 years, (m) 4 years, (n) 3 years, (o) 2 years, and (p) 1 year.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people were convicted of rape of a male in 2009 and received determinate custodial sentences of less than (a) life, (b) 15 years, (c) 14 years, (d) 13 years, (e) 12 years, (f) 11 years, (g) 10 years, (h) 9 years, (i) 8 years, (j) 7 years, (k) 6 years, (l) 5 years, (m) 4 years, (n) 3 years, (o) 2 years, and (p) 1 year.

Lord McNally: The number of persons convicted of rape of a female and rape of a male receiving a custodial sentence, sentence length break down and the average custodial sentence length for 2009 and 2010, can be viewed in table 1.
	
		
			 Defendants found guilty, sentence length break down and the average custodial sentence length for offences of rape of a male and rape of a female, England and Wales 2009-10 
			  Total Found Guilty Total Sentenced (3) Total Immediate custody Up to 1 year 1 year up to 2 years 2 years up to 3 years 3 years up to 4 years 4 years up to 5 years 5 years up to 6 years 6 years up to 7 years 7 years up to 8 years 
			 2009
			 Rape of a female 932 933 885 4 6 17 37 64 102 78 63 
			 Rape of a male 65 66 56 - - 6 1 6 5 4 6 
			 Total rape 997 999 941 4 6 23 38 70 107 82 69 
			 2010
			 Rape of a female 967 967 917 1 4 22 53 73 81 82 48 
			 Rape of a male 91 91 67 - - 2 7 - 5 7 3 
			 Total rape. 1058 1058 984 1 4 24 60 73 86 89 51 
			  8 years up to 9 years 9 years up to 10 years 10 years up to 11 years 11 years up to 12 years 12 years up to 13 years 13 years up to 14 years 14 years up to 15 years 15 years up to life Life Indeterminate Public Protection Sentence Other Sentence 
			 2009
			 Rape of a female 80 45 55 25 38 17 23 62 18 151 48 
			 Rape of a male 3 1 1 1 5 3 1 0 1 12 10 
			 Total rape 83 46 56 26 43 20 24 0 19 163 58 
			 2010
			 Rape of a female 91 52 59 18 46 20 29 61 13 164 50 
			 Rape of a male 8 3 3 1 5 1 1 5 - 16 24 
			 Total rape 99 55 62 19 51 21 30 66 13 180 74 
		
	
	(1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
	(2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However. it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
	(3) The sentenced column may exceed those found guilty as it may be the case that a defendant found guilty, and committed for sentence at the Crown court may be sentenced in the following year.
	(4) Average custodial sentence excludes life and indeterminate sentences.
	Information drawn from court systems may be different from the information recorded on the Police National Computer

Retail: Mary Portas Review

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether Ms Mary Portas has any conflicts of interest that might impact on her perceived independence in respect of the review she has been asked to conduct into United Kingdom retailing; what steps have been taken to manage any conflicts; and what is the budget cost of the review.

Baroness Wilcox: Mary Portas has been appointed on the basis of her experience to undertake a review into the future of the high street. The scope of the review goes beyond retailing to cover how high streets and town centres work, are used, and what makes them successful. Mary Portas is not being paid for her work on the review. She will make recommendations for Government to consider by the autumn of 2011. She has declared her interests to the BIS Permanent Secretary and the information provided to her will take account of her interests.

Schools: Free Schools

Lord Adonis: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will specify the locations, and sponsoring organisation, of each of the free schools scheduled to open in September 2011.

Lord Hill of Oareford: To date, 32 proposals for Free Schools have been given approval to move to business case stage and beyond, of which a number will open in September 2011. The proposers of these schools are not "sponsors" as such, but individuals and groups who are keen to set up a new school in response to local demand.
	The names and locations of the 32 proposals are provided below
	
		
			 Name of proposed school Local authority 
			 All Saints Junior School Reading 
			 ARK Atwood Primary Academy Westminster 
			 ARK Bolingbroke Academy Wandsworth 
			 ARK Conway Primary Academy Hammersmith and Fulham 
			 Batley Grammar School Kirklees 
			 BBG Parents Alliance Kirklees 
			 Bedford and Kempston Free School Bedford Borough 
			 Brandon Free School Suffolk 
			 Bristol Free School Bristol 
			 Canary Wharf College Tower Hamlets 
			 Discovery New School West Sussex 
			 Eden Primary School Haringey 
			 Etz Chaim Jewish Primary School Barnet 
			 Harris Peckham Primary Free School Southwark 
			 King's Science Academy Bradford 
			 Krishna-Avanti Primary School Leicester City 
			 Langley Hall Primary Academy Slough 
			 Maharishi School Lancashire 
			 McAuley College Academy Kingston upon Hull 
			 Moorlands School Luton 
			 Nishkam Free School Birmingham 
			 Priors Free School Warwickshire 
			 Rainbow Primary School Bradford 
			 Redbridge Primary School (E-ACT) Redbridge 
			 Rivendale Free School Hammersmith and Fulham 
			 St Luke's C of E Primary School Camden 
			 Sandbach School Cheshire East 
			 Stour Valley Community School Suffolk 
			 Tauheedul Islam Boys' High School Blackburn with Darwen 
			 The Free School Norwich Norfolk 
			 West London Free School Hammersmith and Fulham 
			 Woodpecker Hall Primary Academy Enfield

Severn Bridge: Tolls

Baroness Randerson: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Welsh Government relating to the impact of Severn Bridge tolls on the economy of Wales.

Earl Attlee: The Welsh Assembly Government are currently carrying out a study into the economic impacts of the crossing tolls. We await the outcome of the study and will consider it when available.

Severn Crossing: Tolls

Baroness Randerson: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Attlee on 19 July 2010 (WA 180), what assessment they have made of whether it is necessary to retain tolls on the Severn Crossing when the assets revert to government ownership.

Earl Attlee: No decisions have yet been made on the future management of the crossings or any charging arrangements once ownership returns to the Government. Given the end of the concession is six years away, it is felt that it is too early to make decisions.

Sport: Motorsport

Lord Rooker: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will allow closed road motorsport events in England on the same basis as in the devolved parts of the United Kingdom.

Earl Attlee: The Department for Transport is currently considering the case for making it easier for local authorities to hold on-road motor racing events and intends to consult in due course.

Traffic Commissioners

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government what resources traffic commissioners will have available to them to carry out the duties assigned to them in the Competition Commission's provisional findings report on the bus industry.

Earl Attlee: No decision has been taken to assign such duties to traffic commissioners. The Department for Transport is considering its response to the potential remedies recommended by the Competition Commission in its provisional report on the local bus market and will respond to the Competition Commission shortly.

Transport: Public Transport

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to encourage local sustainable public transport once the current funds for such schemes have been expended.

Earl Attlee: We look forward to local authorities continuing to embed sustainable travel in their programmes. Authorities submitting bids to the Local Sustainable Transport Fund must demonstrate how the measures will be viable and benefits maintained beyond the period of the fund without further financial support from the Department for Transport. Further central government funding is a matter for the next spending review.

UN: Security Council

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their policy towards granting the European Union a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The Government believe that the UN Security Council needs to be reformed to make it more representative of the modern world. However, the UN is an organisation made up of individual, sovereign member states and the UN Charter is very clear in that it allows only member states to hold seats on the Security Council. There is therefore no question of a permanent single EU seat on the Security Council.

United States: Security

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they consider the United States policy proposed by President Obama, that it is legitimate to invade Pakistan and any other sovereign state to capture or to kill any persons or groups deemed to be a threat to United States security, complies with the United Nations' Charter.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We are not aware of any general statement by President Obama that it is legitimate to invade Pakistan or any other sovereign state to capture or kill persons or groups deemed to be a threat to United States security.

Vehicle Excise Duty

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in view of the judgments in Woolwich Equitable Building Society v Inland Revenue Commissioners and in LB Camden v The Parking Adjudicator, they will take steps to end the imposition by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency of a surcharge when vehicle excise duties are paid by means of a credit card.

Earl Attlee: There are no plans to end the charge for using credit cards for vehicle licence purchases. Legislation is in place that allows a credit card to be used to pay vehicle excise duty and to specify the amount of the fee payable, currently £2.50.
	The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency advises customers that if they purchase a vehicle licence using a credit card the £2.50 fee will apply. Alternative payment options are available to the public and these remain free of charge.

Vehicles: Lorries

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are considering for road pricing for lorries a flat rate fee or a price per mile scheme; whether the fee will differ according to vehicle weight; whether the scheme will be administered through an electronic or paper-based system; and how compliance will be maximised.

Earl Attlee: We are committed to introducing a lorry road user charge which will make all heavy goods vehicles 12 tonnes and over, whether UK or foreign-registered, contribute to the cost of maintaining our roads.
	Our first priority is to provide a fairer deal to UK hauliers. We are therefore working to develop a simple and effective scheme based on the electronic collection of time-based charges, differentiated by weight.
	We are currently finalising the details of the proposed scheme and intend to consult later in the year.

Vehicles: Number Plates

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the number plate system for vehicles registered in the United Kingdom.

Earl Attlee: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) maintains a register of number plate suppliers as a means of regulating the supply of number plates. Enforcement action is taken against suppliers who are in breach of the law. The DVLA also supports the police in their on-road enforcement action against the use of illegal number plates.
	The system for the production and control of number plates remains under review in order to try and identify improvements that might be made to strengthen the existing regime.

Vehicles: Owners

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the names of owners of road vehicles are available on request to anyone who has a justifiable reason for requesting them.

Earl Attlee: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) records the registered keeper of a vehicle, who is the person responsible for licensing the vehicle and for its use but not necessarily the legal owner.
	Information about registered keepers may be disclosed where it is fair and lawful to do so. Specific regulations allow for the name of the registered keeper to be disclosed to the police, local authorities and customs officers. Data can also be disclosed to those who can show that they have a reasonable cause for requiring it. This is primarily where the vehicle has been involved in an incident where there may be liability on the part of the keeper or driver.
	The DVLA has safeguards in place to ensure that data are only disclosed to legitimate organisations and are not misused by the recipient.

Vehicles: Taxis

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many taxis are licensed by local authorities to ply for hire; and how this number has changed over the past 10 years.

Earl Attlee: The Department for Transport's most recent survey of taxi licensing authorities gives a total of 75,989 licensed taxis in England and Wales as at the end of March 2009.
	At the end of December 2001 there were just over 63,000 licensed taxis in England and Wales.

Vehicles: Taxis

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many taxis have undergone MoT tests in each of the past 10 years; and how many failed in each year.

Earl Attlee: The Department for Transport does not hold this information. Local authorities are responsible for licensing taxis in their areas and for ensuring that the vehicles they license meet the appropriate standards.

Vehicles: Taxis

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to restrict the issue of taxi licences in the light of the National Travel Survey showing a significant decline in the proportion of people regularly using taxis over the last decade.

Earl Attlee: The legislation governing taxi licensing in England (outside London) and Wales allows local authorities to place a limit on taxi numbers if they are satisfied that there is no significant unmet demand for taxi services in the district. It is up to licensing authorities to decide whether they want to impose a limit. We estimate that around a quarter impose such a limit.
	Published statistics from the National Travel Survey (tables NTS0303 and NTS0313) do not show a significant decline in the proportion of people regularly using taxis. These tables can be found at: http://www.dft. gov.uk/pgr/statisticsidatatablespublications/nts/.

Visas

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Jones on 30 March (WA 287), how many certificates of sponsorship in March and April 2011 involving Tier 2 intracompany transfers relate to posts with a basic salary, excluding allowances, of less than the national minimum wage.

Baroness Browning: Information on the number of certificates of sponsorship (CoS) issued in March and April 2011 involving Tier 2 intra-company transfers having a basic salary is detailed below.
	
		
			 Month Age 18-20 CoS Assigned with basic salary below £10,233.60 xi Age 18 -20 CoS Used with basic salary below £10,233.60 xl Age 21 + CoS Assigned with basic salary below £12,334.40 x2 Age 21+ CoS Used with basic salary below £12,334.40 x2 
			 March 0 0 285 284 
			 April 0 0 76 165 
		
	
	X1This figure is based on the current hourly rate for the minimum wage of £4.92 and assumes a 40-hour week, 52 weeks per year.
	X2 This figure is based on the current hourly rate for the minimum wage of £5.93 and assumes a 40-hour week, 52 weeks of the year.
	The figures provided are based on both assigned and used CoS. Assigned CoS refers to CoS which the sponsor has allocated to a migrant but which have not been used as part of an application for leave to enter or remain. Used CoS refers to CoS which the migrant has submitted with an application for leave to enter or remain.
	Information on whether a CoS has been used to support an application for leave to enter or remain is not centrally recorded and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
	CoS are issued by sponsors without reference to the UK Border Agency. The UK Border Agency would only find out about the salary level when the CoS was used to support an application for leave to enter or remain.